Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor coming to Pottstown Rumble

Misty May-Treanor, who with her partner Kerri Walsh Jennings has won three Olympic gold medals in beach volleyball, is coming to Pottstown for the 22nd Pottstown Rumble, June 21-23.

When it comes to the best players in beach volleyball, they don’t come any better or more famous and admired worldwide than May-Treanor and Jennings.

May-Treanor retired after the 2012 Summer Games in London after the pair won gold in 2004, 2008, and 2012.

The Rumble will be a part of May-Treanor’s DIG (Dream In Gold) Tour.

Players and volleyball fans will stream in from everywhere. Great matches will be played for hours each day. Fireworks, bigger and better than ever, will signal the Saturday start. Tasty food and drinks, including Sly Fox beer under the Craft Ale House tent will be there to enjoy.

But this year’s highlight is sure to be May-Treanor.

She will kick off the Rumble early this year, arriving on Thursday to hold children’s and coaches’ clinics.

May-Treanor won’t be in attendance as just a teacher either. She will play in two exhibition matches, Friday night at Smith Family Plaza on High Street with bands and DJs to enhance the experience and another match Saturday. The expanded Rumble will for the first time include a Friday junior tournament and a Sunday junior co-ed tournament.

Ken Kaas, who created the Rumble with a couple of his volleyball playing buddies more than two decades ago, is still the leader of the forever loyal Pottstown Rumble board, many of them dating back to those early days.

“Spalding called us up and said, ‘Can we use some of your photos of our ball at your tournament?’” Kaas said. “That was a big awakening for us. ‘Wow, Spalding is calling us!’ They can put their volleyball in the air anywhere and take pictures of it, but they wanted to do it at our Rumble. They also said they will give us $5,000 towards the prize money, which will be great for the players.

“Then they said, ‘Oh, and Misty May coming!’ Not in a million years would I have ever dreamed Misty May would come here to the Pottstown Rumble. When I told my people and the staff Misty May is coming, everybody was ‘Oh, my God. Oh, my God, This is big.’ Their jaws dropped and then you could see their wheels spinning through their eyes.”

And it seemed only right to add a few more extras to The Rumble this year here.

“Pottstown may not be a big volleyball area besides the Rumble, but you go down to the Main Line ... Allentown ... Lancaster ... Berks County — volleyball is big all around us,” Kaas said. “And when she comes, coaches are going to come, kids are going to come, even more players are going to come.”

Of course, it wasn’t just the Rumble people, Pottstown Borough Manager Mark Flanders and Pottstown Parks and Recreation Director Eileen Schlegel had to be on board too, Kaas was quick to point out.

“It’s been nice working with the borough well,” Kaas said. “It started last year with Jason Bobst. He handed to ball off to Mark Flanders and he is running with it. And, of course, Eileen Schlegel, Pottstown Parks and Rec.”

But, sure, it will all add even more work this year for the Rumble organizers.

“I told them if they always took one day off from work, now they take two days off,” Kaas said. “If they took two, they take three. We used to start setting up on Thursday, now we’re going to be running already on Thursday, so we’re starting on Tuesday, which actually means starting on Sunday, Monday laying things out.

“The neat thing about our staff, we’re not afraid to call each other out and tell it like it is. Good people.”

And every year The Rumble has been all worth it.

“A couple of people asked me, ‘Did you ever dream it would get this big?’” Kaas said. “I dream big, I do. But, if you ever asked me if Misty May was going to come here, no I never dreamed that.

“The other thing I would have never dreamed of is the vibe down there at the Rumble. Even if you don’t play volleyball, just come down there and you will feel the energy off of 2,500 people. Those are positive people. That’s the part that is always there. I don’t even know how to describe it in words. There is an aura, an adrenalin there. There is so much positive around you. Just come and experience it.”

Misty May-Treanor will be there, too.

For more information on this year’s event go to www.pottstownrumble.com and like Pottstown Rumble on Facebook